Arisa Cox named ‘Big Brother Canada’ host

A familiar face has moved into "Big Brother Canada." Arisa Cox has been announced as the first host of the Canadian installment of the hit reality series.

The 34-year-old Torontonian will guide viewers through Slice's 10-week-long competition, in which 14 people will vie for $100,000 in one big house. The series debuts Feb. 27.

"I feel like I'm bringing something else to the table. It's not just, 'Oh wow, I'm not like you. I would never go on a show like this,'" Cox told the Times Colonist. "I've been on a show like that; I've been those people trying to survive a really surreal place. So, I feel like I'm one of them, even though I'm not."

So, wait, where exactly do we know this big-haired beauty from?

You may remember Cox as the co-host of "E! News Weekend" from 2007 to 2009, before she became an entertainment reporter at the CBC. After attending Carleton's journalism school (following 10 years of performance training at T.O.'s Claude Watson School for the Arts), she became a reporter for CTV Ottawa.

But Cox gained national attention in 2001 when she was selected to be one of the stars of the first season of "U8TV: The Lofters," Canada's take on "Big Brother," in which she infamously got into fisticuffs with roomie Jennifer Hedger, now a TSN Sportscenter anchor.

"Our reality show drama is a lifetime ago! Congrats to Arisa on the new gig," Hedger tweeted yesterday.

"Arisa knows first-hand what our group of house guests will be going through," he told the Huffington Post. "Her experience and insight into this unique situation will allow her to get into the minds of the house guests and ask the questions that the viewers want to hear."

Cox followed her time on "Lofters" by reporting for A-Channel Ottawa as well as "The A-List" and "The Gill Deacon Show." She also tried her hand at acting and has appeared in the film "Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam" as well as the Canadian series "Instant Star" and "Guns."

"I am ecstatic to be on board to host 'Big Brother Canada,'" Cox said of her new gig. "As a huge fan of reality television, and someone who has experienced living in a house full of cameras capturing my every move, I'm looking forward to meeting our Canadian houseguests to see how they play without getting played!"